The Power of Coaching

Here's a blog by Isabelle on The Power of Coaching where she speaks of our ACPS model. As a coach, I feel a humble and insatiable curiosity for new learning, certainly not power, when I go to work each day and work with my colleagues, my partner teachers and coaches. But it is indeed powerful work, which is what Isabelle speaks of in this blog. I often wonder, who is getting the most out of my coaching interactions with teachers... me or them? Coaching has allowed me to slow down and reflect on the art of teaching, the metacognition of the words we speak and the actions we impose or engage in with our colleagues and students. I work and strategize to give this reflective pause to the teachers that I work closely with on a weekly basis. I recognize how hard it is for teachers to pause, though. It is hard for teachers to step outside of themselves and look at themselves, their students, their practice, their PLC engagement... and the interconnectedness of these to our world. As a coach, I want to capture my thoughts and understandings and reflections so that when I return to the busyness of the classroom, that I am able to maintain this ability to pause and reflect, to dig deeper and to not fear failure. I want to not lose sight of the joy of learning with those around me, both students and adults. I want to seek out coaching so I might maintain my insatiable curiosities on what might work, what's possible that I cannot see in the busyness. I want to not forget how it feels to experiment and research new ways and I will remember that I do not have to do it alone. I appreciate the power of coaching and as I go deeper into year 3 of this coaching model, I find many teachers are understanding our roles and seeking partners for collaborative work. What awesome work and how lucky I feel to be a part of this journey. How humble I am to be working with teams of teachers that are amazing in what they do and yet still seeking to be better all of the time. I hope that they feel the power of coaching, too.